REVIEW: Project XXX, Lantern Theatre

This provocatively-named one act play crams a lot into its 75 minutes, and tackles the subject of teenage sex and pornography with humour and empathy.Project XXX tells the story of Amy (Chloe Wade), a 15-year-old girl who is unwittingly caught out when a ratbag boyfriend secretly films a rather intimate act that ends up online; spending the summer in exile at her uncle's to get away with it all, she meets an older man, Callum (Liam Tinns), and makes a bold decision to reclaim her pride.A two-hander with a multimedia twist, Amy and Callum's blossoming relationship is helped - and hindered - by two other characters, who never set foot on stage. Ratbag boyfriend Josh (Jack Wealthall), and fading porn star Jenna (Hayley Thomas) both only appear in pre-recorded multimedia scenes.This, of course, is all in keeping with the theme, and breathes life into the Lantern theatre space like no production I've seen there before. The multimedia element gave a dimension to the drama that really gave Project XXX a boost - it was not a gimmick or an add-on, but completely central to the show. It allowed characters to interact over chatrooms and Skype, and acted as a television of sorts as we watched candid and unwittingly telling 'at home' interviews with Jenna; and on the big screen is where Project XXX's pay off played out.Amy is a feminist blogger, who decides that losing her virginity on film deliberately is the only way to stay in control. Callum's nervous insistence on high production values rather than the camera phone fumble she had in mind is a constant source of laugh out loud comedy.There was a nice chemistry between Wade and Tinns as they played out a relationship dynamic that, technology aside, is as old as the hills - a young girl finding out an older man might not really have any more of a clue about love and sex after all (a hilarious 'shadow puppet' style scene demonstrated this). Although it could be somewhat uncomfortable for an older audience to realise how savvy 15-year-old Amy is about internet porn - as consumer or maker - that is surely part of the point of Kim Wiltshire and Paul Hine's warm and realistic script. For more about the story behind Project XXX, read MADEUP's interview with Kim Wiltshire.